It looks as if 2026 will be a very interesting year when it comes to seeing how manufacturers of electronic devices cope with rising memory costs. While a recent report detailed 171% YoY contract price increases, more than a few consumers can point to memory kits that have nearly tripled in price since the end of summer, and at this point, most PC enthusiasts are already acknowledging they will hold off on doing upgrades for now. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what will be in store, and even the full ramifications are yet to be known.
According to a new report by Trendforce, Dell will be raising prices by ~10-15% effective in the coming weeks. Lenovo has already been giving notice to its customers to expect price increases in 2026, and that current pricing is only valid until January 1, 2026. According to TechPowerUp, OEM suppliers such as HP, LG, and Samsung are each reportedly looking into “price adjustments” for 2026 as well.
It was recently confirmed by Tom’s Hardware that AMD will be raising prices on its graphics cards to AIB partners by $10 per 8 GB of memory. The price increases are said to involve the current Radeon RX 9000 series only. Meanwhile, it’s been rumored that the ongoing wave of memory cost increases has led to NVIDIA potentially delaying its RTX 50 series refresh, aka SUPER, launch. OneXPlayer also hit the pause button in launching its APEX premium gaming handheld, which features an AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 385/Max+ 395 APU.
“APEX sales are temporarily paused as we complete inventory reconciliation and confirm new pricing with our memory and SSD suppliers (due to ongoing cost increases). This process may take a few days. We will notify everyone as soon as sales reopen.”
-OneXPlayer
OneXplayer had previously said it would need to increase the price of the APEX gaming handheld by $200, but added in its latest statement that the current orders would be fulfilled. However, it reinforced the need to research options with memory and storage suppliers.
“At the same time, we need a bit more time to communicate with our memory and SSD suppliers, as the prices of these components continue to rise. These discussions are essential to properly prepare for the next phase of sales.”
-OneXPlayer
CES 26
CES 26 is happening right around the corner in Las Vegas from January 6-9, where everything from new televisions, computers, CPUs, GPUs, PC components and peripherals to appliances, and more will be on display by major manufacturers. While it’s not uncommon for things shown at the event not to have prices included, it’s probably a safe bet that whatever they were originally going to be is now up in the air for anything that utilizes memory or storage technology. From what you can hold in your hand to mount on a wall, have in your kitchen, or is perhaps used in the automotive industry, to washing laundry, playing games, or performing daily tasks, the effects of these shortages and price hikes will be felt across many industries in the coming year.